Polyols are valuable materials with uses such as PTA/PET, cold weather fluid, cosmetics and many others. Generating polyols from cellulose instead of olefins can be a more environmentally friendly and economically attractive process. Previously, polyols have been generated from polyhydroxy compounds; see WO 2010/060345, US 2004/0175806 and WO 2006/092085. Only recently, have polyols have been catalytically generated directly from cellulose in batch type processes. Catalytic conversion of cellulose into ethylene glycol over supported carbide catalysts was disclosed in Catalysis Today, 147, (2009) 77-85. US 2010/0256424, and US 2010/0255983 teach a method of preparing ethylene glycol from cellulose and a tungsten carbide catalyst to catalyze the reaction. Tungsten carbide catalysts have also been published as successful for batch-mode direct catalytic conversion of cellulose to ethylene glycol in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed 2008, 47, 8510-8513 and supporting information. A small amount of nickel was added to a tungsten carbide catalyst in Chem. Comm. 2010, 46, 862-864. Bimetallic catalysts have been disclosed in ChemSusChem, 2010, 3, 63-66.
However, there remains a need for a catalytic process for direct conversion of cellulose to polyol that is better suited for larger scale production or ongoing production. The continuous catalytic process for generating at least one polyol from a cellulose containing feedstock described herein addresses this need.